Transactional and Transformational Leadership, Research Paper Example

As the leader of any disastrous team can tell you, the cohesion of a team contributes to the quality of the work environment and to the results of teamwork. While today’s group leaders turn increasingly to the modern ideals of transformational leadership, the traditional foundations of transactional leadership provide a firm basis under different terms. One of these forms alone is rarely enough to produce the greatest realization of a group’s goals. Team leaders often feel the pressure to choose one leadership style alone, but the best result combines the strengths of each approach to fit the needs of the project. Projects are as unique as the people who form groups to complete them, and this remains a transactional world.

Background

Transactional leadership spurs on the motivation of “followers via specific benefits provided that they are capable of accomplishing the tasks assigned to them. The transactional style involves negotiation between the leader and subordinates.” (Pedraja-Rejas 160) From this description, the reader deduces that leadership takes on a greater burden for the work produced by a group and that each work is accountable to efficiency in their assigned area- not to the full potential which they might offer to their shared goals.

Transformational leadership “encourages the achievement of high collective standards, through a sense of purpose and a common mission and vision.” (Pedraja-Rejas 160) While this approach distributes responsibility more evenly throughout the group, it also reduced the individual accountability of a strong leadership- unless group members hold each other accountable. This leadership style requires a strong plan for dealing with potential conflicts between free agent group members who might not depend upon the good opinion or authority of the team leader as frequently as in transactional leadership. Transformational leaders require a unifying ideal, inspiration, intellect, and the ability to see each person as part of the team and as an individual. (van Eeves 255)

The organizational environment of a team or group depends upon the goals, attitudes, and actions which support continuing daily operation. Whether the group includes students, teachers, or professionals of the same career field, encouragement and support often motivate employees to provide more than the minimal requirements for their position. (Jung 185) While a discussion of encouragement and support directly links to transformational leadership, the probable advantages and disadvantages of taking risks on employees’ potential raises the stakes of investment in each employee. Such practical considerations typically describe a transactional leadership model, depending upon a cost-benefit analysis and numbers.

With many decisions suggesting one type of leadership over another- dependent upon the situation and the interpretation of the leaders- the selection of one leadership style over the other confuses. Pedraja-Rajas et al. explain:

“The field of view is limited by… outcomes (i.e. strategic decisions and cognitive base and values), are partially predetermined by the perception and interpretation, and hence management features of those who participate in administration.” (159)

From this explanation, the reader discovers the importance of knowing the subtleties of the relationships between management and the execution of ideas in a realistic work environment. In other words, each situation presents its own unique range of approaches and solutions. The human resources included in group decision-making determine the success or failure of a project through their collaboration.

Team Leadership

Leadership becomes precarious. Without enough leadership, a group falls into constant conflict, strays from the common goal because of differences of opinion, etc. With constant leadership, each group member may feel  threatened that their independence diminishes, and that the group seems forced and untrusting. Jung emphasizes this point: “Leadership in groups constitutes an important environmental variable…defines group goals, controls critical resources, and provides rewards through an interactive leadership process.” (185) Underneath each of these goals, the reader understands that trust enables each of these ‘environmental variables’.

For leaders to lead, they, in turn, must trust and be trusted. The degree and manner in which this trust is earned and shown depends upon the person. Nonetheless, a transformational leader focuses on the big picture, takes risks, and anticipates potential problems or opportunities with encouragement for innovation within the group. (Van eeven et. al 254-255) Transactional leaders “emerges as a result of transactions and exchanges with group members,” often rising through the ranks over years of experience and investments in time and training. (Ruggieri et. al 1172)

Motivation

The motivation of a group of people possessed of different heritages, economic statuses, and abilities varies greatly from person to person. Some group leaders choose to recognize outstanding group members with praise, non-monetary incentives, or other rewards or bonuses. Others choose to see their subordinates as serving the goal as a contributing factor toward a common goal- less as an individual person than as a force which will move toward the common goals. The mere act of paying for more bodies and more perspectives should provide a greater end benefit to the group. Thus, the inclusion of more people in a group gives rise to an expectation that productivity will increase along a very linear formula. While these two perspectives- on transformational and transactional leadership, respectively- motivate employees with very different punitive and inspirational methods, the end result often clarifies the level of success in decision-making. However, a group leader cannot wait for the end to make any necessary changes. From the moment that an idea is born and a leader appointed, a course of direction for the project begins.

For transformational leadership, the culture of the work group proves among the highest concerns. The culture depends upon communication, standards, and purpose, and the way that group leaders value and support these cultural aspects throughout the group’s collaboration. Creativity forms its own unique force of motivation. For transactional leadership, the culture of the group motivates the efficient and satisfactory completion of the project without particular emphasis upon going ‘above and beyond’. While this may not sound as awe-inspiring at first glance, many group members find strength in strong leadership, stability, clear expectations, and less personal responsibility for the project outcome. In contrast to increasing idealism, the world market seeks the “operational excellence in the limited sphere that they can measure,” in numbers and statistics (Seidman et. al 46-47) Regardless, Ruggieri et. al explain that the identification that the group members attach to the project and to the group leader predict the general level of success. (1171) Problem-solving begins the instant that a group assembles and brings different forms of motivation for each person.

Discussion

The personality traits of both supervisors and their subordinates often determine which of the team leadership styles successfully operates in the group environment. Positivity and good people skills may be two of the most common personality traits that people associate with a productive group setting, but research indicates that the diversity of a group working toward a common goal can push the work further than in a completely harmonious grouping. Jung writes that the devil’s advocate role allows groups to anticipate different viewpoints or potential barriers to the achievement of goals. (186-188) Surprisingly, even in organizations dependent upon order, transformational leadership gains more support. In 1990, Singer and Singer studied the preferences of employees at various levels within police forces in New Zealand and Taiwan and concluded that transformational leadership remained more popular. The reader questions whether the constant shifting of cultural values will affect this preference more now or in the future, or if new preferences within groups will continue to build support. How interrelated are social movements and workplace attitudes? As they both represent cultures- one within the other- they must affect one another.

Seidman et. al observe that even as the workplaces increasingly turn to transformational leadership models, the world culture itself, especially in a consumer economy, becomes increasingly transactional. A project’s success may be reduced to a simple calculation of the costs of production, the income received, and the difference between those two figures. (46-48) However, if a greater project outcome secures more projects for the group in the future and brings in additional revenue in the future, then a project which appears by such a simple calculation to be a failure could prove a valuable tool in the long-term success of any organization.

Conclusion

Transformational and transactional leadership are often thought to be on opposite ends the stylistic spectrum. However, the strengths of each makes them appropriate to use with different types of group projects and even in combination where a better result can be achieved. In other words, opposites attract. The navigation of the roles of the group leader and of the group members seems to be the first deciding factor, and conscientious decision-making seems to be the other. From start to finish, a group faces many decisions- some of them only allowing minutes for important issues. When conflict arises, this window becomes mere seconds. Both leadership styles can be utilized separately or in conjunction- provided that a satisfactory underlying structure has been formed. When only minutes or seconds remain, the procedure of who settles the matter or what a specific team member’s contributions are should not be in question. In transactional leadership, each person fulfills a need for certain abilities and completes designated tasks; in transformational leadership, each person contributes to the diversity and unity of the group culture as a whole. Either way, when conflict arises, the question of action comes down to the same questions: 1) What leadership did we build our group expectations around? and 2) What loss or gain do we consider?

Works Cited

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Jung, Dong I. “Transformational And Transactional Leadership And Their Effects On Creativity In Groups.” Creativity Research Journal 13.2 (2001): 185-195. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 May 2014.

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Van Eeden, René, Frans Cilliers, and Vasi van Deventer. “Leadership Styles And Associated Personality Traits: Support For The Conceptualisation Of Transactional And Transformational Leadership.” South African Journal Of Psychology 38.2 (2008): 253-267. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

Watts, Mary, and Sarah Corrie. “Growing The ‘I’ And The ‘We’ In Transformational Leadership: The LEAD, LEARN & GROW Model.” Coaching Psychologist 9.2 (2013): 86-99. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 May 2014.